February 21st Devotion

Numbers 13:28-31 (NIV)
28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan." 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."

From the very beginning of the conquest of Canaan, the Israelites were terribly afraid of the Anakim. After all, the Anakim were descendants of the fabled Nephilim.

Numbers 13:33 (NIV)
33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

God told Israel to completely drive out the inhabitants of Canaan or else.

Numbers 33:50-56 (NIV)
50 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the LORD said to Moses, 51 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. 53 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54 Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. 55 "'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. 56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.'"

Unfortunately, Israel did not completely drive the enemies of God away.

Joshua 11:21-22 (NIV)
21 At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. 22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive.

Failure to remove all the Canaanites came back to haunt Israel. A giant name Goliath blasphemed the very name of God and paralyzed the entire army of Israel.

1 Samuel 17:4 (NIV)
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall.

Since Goliath was from Gath, he may well have been a Nephilim. Either way, he held a nation at bay until David confronted him on behalf of God.

Sometimes believers elevate people or things to a status that makes them seem unbeatable. Things that we don’t believe can ever change or be overcome. We may consider them too strong, and never completely drive them out of our lives. When this happens, they will trouble us wherever we live and whatever we do.

The only remedy is to stand on the word of God and drive them completely out. Otherwise, because of our failure to do so, they may blaspheme the very name of God.

Love, Pastor Don